Our Team

Alexandria Fox is the Associate Program Director for Materials Development and Instructional Design at CEISL. In this role, she provides support and guidance to faculty in both individual and group settings regarding instructional support and pedagogical practice for online courses.

Alexandria received her masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education from University of Colorado – Denver. Throughout her career in education, she has worked to support the creation of inclusive educational experiences for students from diverse backgrounds and reduce barriers to achievement in education. This can be seen in her dedication to incorporating elements of Universal Design for Learning and Transparency in Learning and Teaching into online courses, and presenting about and publishing papers on scaffolding approaches in online courses. In addition, she has in-depth knowledge of learning theories, instructional design methodology, and ability to effectively use technology in online courses.

AJ Knoors (she/her/hers) is a research scholar who serves as the Project Management Specialist at CEISL (the Collaborative for Equitable and Inclusive STEM Learning). With a background in counseling, a Master’s degree in education, and several years of experience in advocating for the LGBTQIA+ community, AJ brings a unique perspective to her work. Utilizing a focus on social emotional learning, she attempts to gain a comprehensive understanding of the issues faced in education today. AJ is committed to using her research within CEISL to inform policy and practice, working closely with educators, learners, the community, and policymakers to develop innovative solutions that truly make a difference in education.

Maxim is the Educational Program Specialist for the CEISL (Collaborative for Equitable and Inclusive STEM Learning) at the IUPUI School of Education. He is leading the pilot project, the STEM studio at Brookside elementary school (IPS school 54) and is contributing to other CEISL projects, led by Resource Development and Community Engagement teams.

Maxim received his B.S. in comparative linguistics in 2010 from Moscow State Pedagogical University. He earned his Master’s in Education with a focus in Academic Success Coaching in 2012 from Moscow State Pedagogical University.

Since 2013, he has been developing educational courses, projects, and events in Moscow and other cities in Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. He taught in the Master’s programs of the Moscow City Pedagogical University and the Higher School of Economics, co-found two educational enterprises.

In 2019 Maxim received the Fulbright scholarship. During his internship in the USA, he mastered his teaching skills at IUPUI’s School of Education and practiced instructional design at the Herron School of Art and Design on the course “Introduction to Communication Design” at Indiana-Purdue University in Indianapolis.

Maxim is a creative and collaborative educator, media-author, and event-manager. He specializes in personalized learning, multimedia-communication, participatory design, and event-hosting. He is experienced in academic success coaching, entrepreneurship, community-management and educational urban studies.

Gabrielle Kirby (she/her/hers) brings a passion for educational equity and inclusion to her role as an Instructional Designer at CEISL. With a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Indiana University, she has a strong foundation in education and a commitment to enriching content for all students of all backgrounds. Gabrielle is eager to apply her skills and creativity to create inclusive learning experiences. Her dedication to promoting diversity and equity in education aligns perfectly with CEISL’s mission. Known for her attention to detail and innovative approach, Gabrielle is excited to collaborate with the team to develop engaging educational materials. She looks forward to contributing to the project’s success by making education accessible and enriching for all.

Akaash Arora is a well-known educator and student who works to create equitable educational opportunities for children in the Indianapolis area. Currently, Akaash is a doctoral student at Indiana University of Indianapolis. He is enrolled in the Urban Education Studies PhD program. Akaash was a former math teacher in the state of Indiana and has a focus on math instruction at the secondary level. Currently in his role as Graduate Assistant for the CEISL project, Akaash supports faculty and full-time staff in promoting learning opportunities for minoritized students. Akaash supports projects like CEISL’s Math and STEM Studio.

Cristina Santamaría Graff (biracial Mexicana) is an Assistant Professor of Special Education, Urban Teacher Education at Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis (IUPUI) (Ph.D., University of Arizona, 2009). She has expertise in bilingual/multicultural special education and applies her skills in working with Latinx immigrant families of children with dis/abilities in family-centered and -driven projects. Her scholarship focuses on the ways community-engaged partnerships with families and other stakeholders can transform inequitable practices impacting youth with dis/abilities at the intersections of race, language, and other identity markers of difference.

She is one of the Editors for the journal Multiple Voices: Disability, Race, and Language Intersections in Special Education, the AERA SIG Program Chair for Spirituality and Education and a Board Member of IN*SOURCE (Indiana Resource Center for Families with Special Needs). Her scholarship has been nationally recognized through The Ernest A. Lynton Scholarship of Engagement Award (2019) and AERA’s award for Exemplary Contributions to Practice-Engaged Research (2019).

Selected publications include: Co-investigation and co-education in ‘Family as Faculty’ approaches: A repositioning of power (2021), Examining preservice special education teachers’ biases and evolving understandings about families through a Family as Faculty approach (2020), and Models of School-Family Relations (with Dr. Brandon Sherman) (2020).

Dr. Ted Hall is an Associate Professor of Education at Martin University. Dr. Hall’s scholarly interests span instructional design, critical pedagogy, and community-based inquiry methodologies, which has involved extensive field research and teaching in West Africa, China, and the Americas. Dr. Hall serves as a Co-PI and consultant on the project.

Paula Magee is a Clinical Professor of Science Education in the School of Education at IUPUI. A Brooklyn, NY native and resident, until coming to Indianapolis in 1992, she earned her PhD in Physical Chemistry from The Graduate School at the City University of New York (1992). Following a postdoctoral appointment at Eli Lilly & Company, where she used nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography to research the structure and function of drug molecules, she turned to teaching and earned her teaching certification in secondary science (chemistry, earth space science and technology) from IUPUI.

While on the faculty at the School of Education her work has focused on using inquiry and culturally relevant pedagogies to prepare preservice teachers to teach in K-12 classrooms. She recently co-authored a book chapter in the Handbook for Research in STEM education exploring the history of culturally relevant pedagogy in STEM classrooms (2020). Her work with in-service teachers has centered around the role of mentoring in the supervision process and exploring culturally relevant pedagogies in practice.

Currently, she is the coordinator of the Alternative Certification Programs in the School of Education. She works closely with school districts in Marion County and develops partnerships to recruit employees to initial licensure programs. Alternative certification programs have been shown to be an excellent way to diversify the teaching staff by breaking down systemic barriers in teacher education pathways to licensure. Dr. Magee is committed to equitable and anti-racist education in classrooms and in teacher preparation pathways.

Dr. Amy Waechter-Versaw (she/her/hers) has been an educator for over 20 years. Her experiences include classroom teacher, administrator, coach & mentor, whole school improvement consultant, and educational grant leadership. She designs, facilitates, and leads teacher professional learning and school partnerships for CEISL; focusing on equitable and inclusive k-12 teaching and learning for in-person and online environments. She is an adjunct professor for the IU Bloomington School of Education. Amy got her B.S. from Indiana University and her M.Ed. and her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research and work interests are within-school trust among teachers and school leaders, equitable and inclusive teaching and learning, enhancing teacher professional capacity, and whole school improvement.

Brooke Moreland currently works as a higher education administrator at the Indiana University School of Education- IUPUI. She serves as the Associate Director and Project Manager for the Digital Education Hub (DEH) for Rigorous Remote Learning with Communities as part of the Federal CARES Act response through the Indiana Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund and the Indiana Department of Education. In this role, she leads the instructional design and research efforts of online professional development modules for educators utilizing the principles of adult learning, critical race theory, and sociocultural learning theories to address the needs of Pre-K-12 learners during the pandemic.

Student advocacy and understanding how organizational change and policy impacts high risk populations is her research interest. She believes there is no way to serve as a competent leader without understanding the people who you serve and how your leadership decisions impact the lives of those at lower levels of multi-layered governing structures. Brooke is an alum of Butler University, the Indiana University-Bloomington Higher Education & Student Affairs (HESA) program and an alum of the Harvard University Advanced Educational Leadership program.